Kallisto Grace and Alexis Jackson, The Armageddon Prophecy
by KallistoGraceAlexisJackson
Summary: Danger is never over for demigods. But what about the next generation? What about our favorite heroes' children? A quartergod is a child of two demigods. They have the power of two gods, but their aura is so strong, they most don't make it past one. This story follows Percy and Annabeth's child and Piper and Jason's child in their mission - to save the world. Like their parents.
1. Letter To Reader

Letter to Reader - Kallisto Grace & Alexis Jackson

Dear Reader,

We are taking the liberty of writing this letter to you. If the gods found out, wethis must be one of those typical books about the life of two 13 year old girlst live a typical life, unless you count having hungry monsters chasing behind you ready to make you become their lunch, or having the whole worldm talking about. Pretty much like that to you guys, the guys with the lucky life, the mortals.

People like us are different. Hated, shooed away, separated from others. So basically life sucks, dont it?

Most likely though, yout true at all. This evil guy was rising, and by evil I mean a guy that fully awakened, could crush the earth with his bare hands.

Kallisto and I are taking all this trouble writing to you mortals in hope that you will realise how lucky you are to lead a normal, carefree life - which is what we used to have. The biggest worry for you might be that you are going to get grounded or that you fail your next math test, but for us, well, you will find out. This book is being written in confidence, if anyone finds out, we are going to get killed.

Literally.

May the gods be with you.

Alexis Jackson & Kallisto Grace


	2. Preface

**Kallisto Grace - Preface**

I had never thought about dying when I had a normal life. It seemed like a nightmare far away, never to happen.

I'd never thought about afterlife either. If I ended up my heart heavier than the feather of truth in the Egyptian afterlife, or celebrating with Hel in the Norse myths.

All of this was too far away when I was blissfully ignorant. When change came, death was around every corner. I managed to escape countless times. I was lucky I guess.

But as a knife raised high above me, gleaming bright silver, stained with the crimson blood of someone I loved, I had this sharp feeling - a mix of regret and frustration. Regret because it was there the entire time, I just was too stupid to understand what the prophecy meant. Frustration because the sorceress had been right, I knew the true meaning all along.

People often say, as death came closer, you get a flashback of your life. Mine, sadly would be pitifully short.

The knife holder was a boy, his face expressionless but eyes filled with dewy tears.

"You don't have to do this," I croak weakly.

"I do," He murmurs as if under some chant: "You betrayed me when I could have let you have anything you wanted." Tears pour down his pale skin.

I put my finger to his lips: "Not everything."

"Everything in my power, everything that wouldn't have affected the order of the universe," He sighs, raising the knife higher. My vision blurs, the knife's power causing me to swoon. I see my best friend and I running across the green grasses of my home. The picture snaps, gone. The image of my family, my brother grinning at me, my dad waggling his fingers and my mom running her fingers through my hair vanishes, ceasing to exist.

The boy grimaces and brings the knife down.

I'm going to die.

A flash of red tinges my sight, and a single rush of warmth and pain spreads through my body. I feel my stomach gingerly. I lift my fingers. They're stained with red. I take quick unsteady breaths, breathing becoming a hardship.

As the boy turns to my friend, looking horrified and clutching severely damaged limbs, I manage to utter a single word. "Please."

He turns to me and touches my cheek gently as my world goes black.


	3. Chapter 1

**Kallisto Grace - Chapter 1**

Before all this happened, I lived a normal life - a happy carefree one. I was half - blind to the world we live in now. One day, that all changed. If you really want to know my story, which I guess you should but you shouldn't, open these pages to discover the truth behind the Armageddon.

My name is Kallisto Grace. I'm thirteen years old, the unlucky year I guess. I'm a troubled kid, you could say. I'm Ms. Popular at school, everybody admires what I do and say. I'm a rich goddess to my friends, all the wavy blonde hair and color changing eyes, but really, on the inside I'm like anybody else. That is, until my world went topsy - turvy.

My world changed one day. It's a day I'll never forget, the start of a mission that determined the fate of the world. A message was sent to me and another girl. It all began on any ordinary Sunday.

I had a strange dream.

I was flying through the sky, thunder cackling madly behind me. Three doves were perched on my left arm, cooing.

Somehow I understood them: "Go to Camp Half Blood, it is the only safe place." The doves spoke in unison, in a tender, kind, motherly voice. Instinctively, I press my lucky necklace which for some reason is in my hand. It disappears, replaced with a glowing bronze sword.

I stare at it between amazement and shock. The wind lurches, I'm flying downwards, towards a place my brain recognises Long Island, New York.

I see a strange collection of items - a dragon coiled around a tree that had a shining fleece. A strange assortment of buildings - what looked like a miniature factory or another on seemed to be made of grass.

I land steadily on top of a strawberry plant. A feeling I had rarely feel burns in my heart - the feeling that this is a place you belong. This place is deserted not a living being in sight, fear creeps up my stomach. A huge hole in the ground is opening in the ground, threatening to swallow all of place. "Go! Only you and the other chosen one can save this haven!" The urgency in the doves' voices is growing: "Go!" Their voices fade.

I jerk up to a start, head spinning crazily. Half of me is going mad with the need to go, but the part with more common sense tells me not to. I tell myself to slow down: Kallisto, think it over, it's just a dream.

But, a small, nagging voice at the back of my head is pleading me to go, and somehow that dream just seems too real, perhaps too real to be true. The voice is persistent, it sounds much like the doves in my dream. That doesn't help much.

I comb my hair and brush my teeth like any other sunday. Then sit on my bed trying to make a nearly impossible decision.

Grandpappy calls me down for sunday pancakes - my favorite. I hesitate then smile. Decisions could always wait after breakfast.

I totter down the stairs, a rather fake smile plastered on my face - I don't want grandpa to find out about my dream and fuss over me. Fussing over me happens almost too often and it gets extremely annoying.

My grandfather's name is Tristan Mclean (on my mother's side). He's an ex - actor and a rather famous one at that, especially when he acted in 'The King of Sparta'. It was huge blockbuster, though the first time I watched it I turned all giggly seeing my grandad in ancient greek armour - the poster was even more ridiculous. It had a picture of him and a caption saying: 'I will steal your women and kill your men'.

We live in a skyscraper - mansion, my bedroom is right on the highest floor. I live the life of celebrities, fashion and money.

My grandpa welcomes me with the famous smile that used to make women scream and ask him to sign their bodies in permanent marker. Nowadays, instead of acting he spends most of his time looking after me - a favor for my parents.

My parents.

That's a subject I don't like to talk about. They're bankers and travel a lot. Sometimes, we only meet once a year. It's more like they're my distant aunt and uncle than my parents. They're always in China or England, but most of the time in New York. I hear and see things about them, bad things that make a dark turn to my glamorous life of the wealthy.

Things I wish I could forget.

Like once, when I was in kindergarten, there were a bunch of cloaked women with what I could swear were spears. They were stalking me, whispering and pointing to me. I told the teacher about them and their double snake tails for legs. She told them to go away but still insisted they were holding briefcases and wearing green dresses. I thought I was mad so I followed them. Which I probably do not advise you to do.

They were whispering in undertones: "Are you sure this is Kallisto Grace? The daughter of Piper Mclean and Jason Grace?" "No, maybe, we're wrong." They _were_ saying the name of my parents, so being a five year old I turned and ran away.

My grandfather handed me a plate of blueberry pancakes drizzled artistically with maple syrup. "Had any dreams?" My grandfather asks me the question he always asks in the morning. I freeze, grandpa raises an eyebrow suspiciously. I figure it's harmless to tell my grandpa a dream so slowly, I give him the story.

A shadow passes over grandpa's face as I finish, "I feared this very day," he whispers hoarsely, "Your parents told me that if danger comes, it will be sent in a dream, you must be properly trained."

I get really confused.

Even more than the time when grandpa insisted on bringing nachos to the greek potluck at my school. "What... do you mean?" I stutter, not finding the right words. "You must go, find out about yourself and your parents," my grandpa says this in a voice that I have never heard him use, "finish your breakfast and pack." He says this very final voice. We eat the rest in silence.

I throw myself on my bed. My usual optimism drowned by the seriousness of this situation.

I sit up and throw a couple of things in my large (meaning really large) sling bag. There are a few things from my last camping trip, but I don't bother taking the stuff out - it might be useful.

I make a review. Six sets of clothing including underwear and pyjamas, wallet containing credit card with more than ten thousand dollars, cell phone, camouflage tent, sleeping bag, map of New York and some other cities and a hairbrush. I almost forget the photo album with my parent's photos in it. Carefully, I put in the front pouch. Automatically, I check my necklace is still fastened at my throat. I was a gift from my parents, a reminder. Sometimes painful, but it often made me feel I always had a part of them with me.

I stare at the diamond on my bronze lucky necklace. Sometimes, if I stare at it enough, I can see the faces of my parents. My mother's eyes a bright blue, her hand and chestnut brown hair waving as if asking me to join them. My father has one hand on his hip and the other on my mom's shoulder, his blonde hair glinting in the sunlight. He looks at me fiercely with his electric blue eyes, then grins and eases into a crooked smile. I really feel like crying and bawling out my sorrows. Which I haven't done since I was three, because it would ruin my eyeshadow and mascara.

I hear a knock. My grandfather comes in. He seems to have aged twenty years since our conversation. He holds a plastic bag, "A few sandwiches, ready made meals and bottles of water," He instructs me as briskly as he always did, "Buy any other necessities, I've added another ten thousand dollars to your credit card." He puts the food in the bag and looks at me. "Go. This may be the last time we meet. I just can't say goodbye. Go." Grandfather Mclean looks so old I can't believe it. He wraps his arms around me in a brief hug, and half runs out of my room, tears glistening.

I put on a army print top and shorts, then tie the laces of my sturdy camo boots, pick up the bag and walk out the door. I say goodbye to the washington skyscraper I have called home for thirteen years of my life.

I walk towards central station, a 13 year girl, nowhere to go, nowhere to hide. All on my own - alone.

I usually travel by limo but, in this case if I find my driver is the one - eyed monster I met in third grade, I not willing to take my chances. I walk into the grandeur of central station. Calls are going all around me: "train 39 heading to Los Angeles leaving in 30 minutes. Please head towards platform number 8."

Suddenly, amid the chaos, a stronger, more powerful voice than the dove finds me: "Buy a ticket to Philadelphia, travel to Wharton State Forest, there will be someone you must meet to succeed. Also, when you need help, point to the sky." Nobody else seems to hear it, but knowing I see and hear real (or maybe not) things that other don't, I decide to trust the voice and buy a ticket to Philadelphia.

I yawn. I'm on a train and it's nearing lunchtime. I sit back in the seat of my first class cabin on the train.

I grab out a small pack of japanese food from my pack, pick up the chopsticks and give failing attempts to grab the sushi. In the end, I just eat it like finger food.

I see strange sights as we pass out of Washington D.C. I see some centaurs (I only know this because my mom tried to teach me some greek mythology, but it turned out I'm not that good at learning. Centaurs are easy because my star sign, cancer, is most compatible with the horse man, sagittarius) carrying bows and running across fields, one the size of a small boy waves at me, I wave back.

I see a scaly, green dragon the size of a flat slither across some mountains. I get this petrifying feeling like oh-my-god-that-dragon-is-going-to-eat-me.

Whenever I see a dove my heart leaps, hoping it will give me a clue about my parents. In the end the result was a few scratches (I had tried to catch the dove, while hanging out of the train) and a bit of dove poop on my hand (I washed it off with disgust).

After a while of wistful thinking about some celebrity dates, I hear a knock on the door.

A teenager opens the door. He's dressed from head to toe in gold, even his hair is. He has green eyes that have this intense fire, I gives you this feeling that this guy was either a madman or a genius or possibly both.

But what I find the strangest is that he's looking at me like how the other people that were following me were, eyes shining maliciously and licking their lips. The diamond on my lucky necklace is shining, like literally glowing. I try not to sound too suspicious: "Hello, may I help you?" He turns to me, I find that even his eyes are flecked with gold.

His voice is like silk, but you can hear the harsh tone of a knife scraping on stone: "Hello Kallisto Grace, you are in danger." I blink then give him a puzzled look. His crazy smile widens: "I am the danger." He changes.

His skin and eyes is turning completely golden, his height growing to the size of a truck. Somehow and thankfully, nothing in the train is damaged. In place of the boy, is a huge, golden lion. I remember some suggestions and decide to try a few things out.

First of all, if you're travelling on a train from Washington to Philadelphia and see a rather large crater, I apologize for all the inconveniences a giant lion caused.

I take off my flashing necklace and press the diamond. In place of my necklace is a huge bronze sword, exactly alike to the one in my dream. I grin.

I charge towards the cat and bring the sword down to it's back. The sword bounces off the lion's skin. The lion rears up and roars lazily, like it's saying: "Is that all? Not very impressive. Oh well, my turn!" I stop astonished. Anything hit by a really sharp sword doesn't usually survive.

The lion rears up and pounces to my right. A series of rolls, stabs and slashes attack my mind. My mind seems clearer than it has before. I notice small sounds and sights I wouldn't usually notice. I see the lion tensing on it's right where it pounced, missed and crashed into my bed. I hear a lunch trolley creaking towards us (seriously, at two pm?).

Moving about has always been one of my strengths (perhaps, not swimming). I do tennis, gymnastics, cross - country, t - ball and a little bit of soccer.

Grandpa says my ADHD causes this. But not so much my dyslexia.

Orders of fighting moves roll into my mind, I obey, hitting the neck with the sharpest points of my sword. It seemed to be affecting him like mosquito bites (but not as itchy). I remember the voice in the train station. Hoping it will work, I give it my highest hopes and point to the sky.

A thunderstorm appears out of nowhere.

Bolts of lightning hit the monster on it's two eyes. The electricity courses through the creature. It gives me one last murderous look (without his eyes) before crumbling into dust. All that remained was an absolutely stunning golden, furry coat.

Without thinking, I slip it on my arms. It feels even comfier than the faux fur leopard coat I got made in Paris for me.

The room is completely undamaged, except for a huge crater that a stray lightning bolt had made. I snuggle onto the bed and into my jacket.

My head is dizzy with exhaustion even though it's afternoon: that poor lion must have mistaken me for someone else, I comfort myself, I'm just an innocent standbyer. But something about the certainty in his eyes makes me doubtful.

I pick up a dessert set and pick up the finger - sized chocolate cheesecake, trying to swallow the lion memory as well as the cheesecake. But, they simply are stuck there, like a mouse in a mousetrap. After a considerable amount of choking, I manage to swallow the cheesecake, but not the memory.

A loudspeaker comes blaring out: "We are approaching Philadelphia, please get ready to exit the train." I stand up and exit my cabin, hauling my messenger bag behind me. The train jerks to a stop and I manage not to get thrown out of the train. I straighten myself and whisper to no one in particular: "Here I am, Philadelphia."

I head towards the taxi stand, stepping gracefully into a free cab. "Wharton State Forest, please." I ask politely. The cabbie grunts: "Are you sure, that's forty four miles away." I slap a two twenties next to driver, he snorts and speeds away mumbling something about money and overpaid kids.

I sit back after making sure the driver is just a normal city driver that likes to smoke (the cab smelled strongly of tobacco). I sit back, pull out my phone and start to listen to Pink's 'Just Give Me a Reason'. Sometimes, I see bits of black peeking from around the trees, but I decide to worry about it later. After Adele's 21, Demi Lovato's Heart Attack, Olly Murs's Troublemaker, most of the Taylor Swift songs I reach Wharton State Forest. I tumble out and the taxi speeds away, leaving me and my bag facing the dark forest.

I decide to go into the forest and set up camp. I set up a steady pace into the forest, caution in every step, my hand on my necklace. My eyes dart all around me.

Suddenly, something feels wrong, the hairs on my arms are standing up. I freeze, then split my legs in a battle stance.


	4. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I hear a sinister growl emitting from the darkness behind. The jewel on my necklace is flashing like mad. Slowly, I turn around.

A bloodhound the size of a rhino rears up, ready to strike, it's red eyes glowing madly. I inhale sharply, but it feels like all the breath from my lungs are gone.

I unclasp the necklace from my neck and push the diamond into the heart of the necklace. The necklace is gone, replaced with a meter's length of shining bronze. A series of slashes and stabs roll into my mind. I let of my guard to much on my left hand side. The dog raises it's paw.

My left arm is bloody, knowing I couldn't do much more I turn and run, the hound leaping after me.

I ran like I never ran before, my muscles on fire. I muttered comfort to myself: "I'm going to keep running and running..." I stop for a moment knowing I'd outran the dog. I breathe heavily. Lucky my grandfather made me do cross - country. I sit myself on a stump at the bottom of the hill. But another sight makes me jump up immediately.

A blonde girl, my age, is rolling down the hill. She scrambles up at my feet, pushing back her curly hair, revealing sea - green eyes.

Immediately, I know she has the aura of power and bossiness, no offense to her. In her hands there is a length of bronze very much like my own. I reach out my hand and pull her up.

"Hi," she says breathlessly. I nod rather coldly. She gives no sign that she has seen my unfriendly behaviour, but carries on: "My name is Alexis, Alexis Jackson. What's yours?" She seems to be trying the 'diplomatic' approach, which I don't like much: "Kallisto Grace." Abruptly, a question pops into my head that arouses suspicion: "Why are you alone? Aren't you supposed to be with your parents?"

She gives me a nasty look: "What about you? It isn't safe for you is it?" She seems to be trying to stay cool, but I hear a hint of privacy in her voice.

I breathe in deeply, pouring out my story: "My parents are bankers, they're always travelling, but, most of the time they go to New York, sometimes they go there for months. I live with my grandfather - Tristan Mclean, he takes care of me. On my seventh birthday, my parents gave me a necklace that turns into a sword, and a few days ago, I received a dream saying I need to go to Long Island, New York. What about you?"

She stares at me blankly, her green eyes widening in shock, and swallowed: "What? You're like me? Have monsters been chasing you too?" She sees the look on my face and slows down: "My parents are explorers, their names are Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase, they are always away, just like yours, my grandparents stay with me. I also got a gift from my parents for my seventh birthday, it's a car key that also turns into a sword. In your dream about going to Long Island New York, is that Camp Half-Blood?"

My turn to get shocked: "What!? How, how..? Wait... Percy...Annabeth, I think dad mentioned Uncle Percy or Aunt Annabeth before..."

"So our parents know each other? That's too random, probably it's another Percy and Annabeth."

Alexis walks over to the nearest rock and plonks herself upon it, shaking her head and muttering to herself. I follow. "We can camp out here in the night," I gesture towards my pack, "I have a tent and about a few thousand in my bank account. Tomorrow we can buy some medical supplies from the pharmacy."

Alexis seems too tired to move, but helps me set up the camouflage print tent.

I still feel kind of suspicious, even though I can't see anything special about her, I need to make sure she has human feelings: "Why didn't you come packed? Can I call you Alex?"

Alexis seems very miffed and reluctant to answer my questions (quite human). She gives me short, stiff answers like: "I did pack, I don't need a tent, I sleep in my sleeping bag, and yes, you can call me Alex and please stop asking questions."

After that I stopped immediately. "Also, your eyes change color," She added.

I sigh thinking about my mother and our likenesses, she would attempt to persuade me to change my eye color like her, she could control it. We would both laugh, but now thinking about it would make my heart crack in two. She was a remarkable woman, my father would say, she had an uncanny ability to get anybody to do what she wanted. The stars in the sky twinkled in the sky, like my mother's smile and my father's eyes. I drift into the land of sleep.

The sun was reflecting on the clouds, causing them to turn a light pink. A strong pair of arms shake me.

I jerk up and grumble loudly: "Why do you have to wake me up?"

Alexis looks at me sharply. I shut up, hastily, I mumble and pull out a mars bar and am about to pull off the wrapper when, "I really think you should have a more nutritious breakfast." Alexis regards me disapprovingly.

I roll my eyes, even during the small time I knew her, I could tell she was Ms. Perfect. Well, maybe not when she rolls down hills.. I think. Hiding a secret smile, I pull out a tuna sandwich. I take a large bite, delicious. I absolutely cannot believe my mom survives as a vegetarian.

Alexis looks at my sandwich admiringly and glumly pulls out a slightly moldy, peanut butter and jelly sandwich from the bottom of her bag. I wrinkle my nose.

My grandpa always had crab and wasabi sandwiches, though my mother always chose peanut butter special - both of our favorites.

But the sandwich was definitely never moldy. Alexis doesn't seem to care, she stuffs the rest in her mouth. "Do you have any more food? I'd be happy to share if you don't." I ask.

That girl lectures me about eating healthily, when she eats mold and sandwiches. She shakes her head. I can tell she is lying, trying to put a bit more force into my words I say: "Are you sure?"

A dazed look comes over her eyes. "Yeah, well, I kind of don't have any more food," confirms Alexis. I pull out a ready made sushi box: "Do you like sushi? You can have it for lunch if you want, I have more." "I love sushi!",

She slows down, "Well, I don't really mind." I roll my eyes and hand it over to her. She puts it in her rucksack lovingly. Alexis points her finger towards town: "Let's go to the pharmacy now." I switched my dirty army clothes into a pair of jeans and a shimmery silver tank top, then gave her an approving nod.

We leave our bags in the tent and walk to town (actually only Alexis walked, I was running and doing aerials - gym is awesome!). Alexis lectures me: "It isn't funny, anyway, you can get hurt."

I stop, jog up to Alexis, yawn and give back an easy answer: "I need to practice for the gym tournament coming up, besides all this is simple."

I kind of exaggerate. "We need to go to the camp first, you might not even survive with all these monsters and you cheerfully practicing gym," Alexis says in a kind of mean tone.

I feel my heart heavy with sadness and a little fear. "So you mean all the animals - the dog and lion were actually trying to hurt me?" I say a bit scared. She replied scornfully: "Yes, and by the way it wasn't a dog, it was a Hellhound."

That shut me up.

We strolled into the pharmacy like any 13 year old girl that's arm had been raked by a hellhound would - normally.

For some stupid reason, my necklace is glowing. Wait a sec... when I faced the lion and dog my necklace flashed...this could mean nothing good was in the pharmacy.

I tighten my grip on Alexis' hand and whisper: "Something is in the pharmacy." She takes this in calmly. We walk in. Behind the counter stood a seriously pretty lady. She had luscious, black waves that curled around her face, skin that even my own mother would envy and emerald eyes that shined like the stars in the sky. She was wearing a snakeskin dress that touched her toes and a diamond collar, god did this lady have fashion sense. She had a friendly smile and a nametag that said 'Hello! My name is Chidna'.

Next to her stood a really cute boy my age with her looks. He smiled at me gorgeously, ignoring Chidna's annoyed look.

"Chimmy, control yourself," warns Chidna. She turns back to us with a perfect smile lingering on her lips: "May I help you?" Her eyes linger on Alexis' tattered jeans and t-shirt, why hadn't I persuaded Alexis to go to the clothing shop first? She would have looked stunning in those turquoise pants I saw in the general store just now.

"Can we please have some bandages and healing cream?" Alexis asks this as politely as she can. Chidna wanders to the back of the shop and returns with the bandages and cream: "May I help you put them on?" We nod.

She unwraps the bandages and opens the cream. Spreading the ointment across Alexis' skin, she smiles at both of us. She does the same for me, her fingers are delicate and soft, they feel like the dove feathers in my luxury pillow at home.

Chimmy is fidgeting: "Can we do it now mom?" Chidna throws him a sharp look. Chidna turns back to us: "I have a little secret I would like to share with you,"

She throws her head back and laughs, a forked tongue lying in her mouth. Wait, a forked tongue, that probably means nothing good... Alexis warns me: "She's Echidna, mother of monsters in greek mythology, Chimmy is probably the Chimera."

I stare at her and forgetting to be quiet I ask: "Isn't that a creature in Australia?" Chidna stares at me coldly, I notice that her eyes are glassy and slit like like a reptiles'.

Chidna and Chimmy hold each other's hands, close their eyes and start to grow, chanting something about freaky mutilations. Chidna stops at a certain height, her dress seems to be swallowing her body. She's a part snake part human, her face is the same as it was before, but her body has turned scaly and now has the body of a snake. She stares at me hungrily like I'm a strawberry cheesecake (delicious! but not too delicious).

Chimmy is growing absolutely gruesome and also growing taller than Chidna and now has three heads - one goat, one lion and one snake (it's coming out of his butt - ha ha ha!). But it kind of isn't funny because now I have a huge lion with three heads staring at me, his fangs dripping with poison (I still don't get how a goat head is scary).

They turn facing both of us, eyes glowing evilly and say in unison: "Get ready to travel to the depths of the Underworld."

Instinctively, we pull out our weapons - I press the diamond on my necklace and Alexis, a button on a car key, bronze swords appear in our hands.

Yelling, I point my sword to the sky, a lightning bolt slashes chimera's goat head. I do this repeatedly, chimera stumbles.

Alexis has a sudden thought and dashes to the back of the store. I yell at her: "Where are you going?" Alexis turns her head back: "I have an idea, keep distracting it!" I hate your ideas I think, annoyed, but continue pounding the monster. A smoking crater appears on his head, I yell: "Score one for Kallisto."

On that one moment, the chimera brings it's claw up and slices it down.

I scream, the newly closed wound opens, blood spurting out. I look around wildly for Alexis' so called 'great plan'.

I close my eyes waiting for the death strike, also hoping for a miracle. I feel a flame graze my feet. Opening my eyes I find myself suspended mid - air. I can fly.

Chimera roars at me, a flame of fire hits my golden cardi. The flame simply bounces off.

Flameproof, my lion-fur cardigan is flameproof.

I shout with joy, the chimera opens his mouth ready to spurt me with flames. I use the last of my energy and bring down the largest lightning bolt. The air sizzles with the electrical charge in the air. The lightning bolt flies into the lion's mouth. The lion swallows it.

For a scary moment, I was afraid nothing happened. Then the lion started to glow, his skin started to brighten. The lightning bolt blasted the lion inside out.

A little bit of cooked intestine landed on one of the fallen shelves (it looked like most of them had fallen because of Alexis battling).

I smile at the chimera as coldly (even if it's dead) as I can and land gracefully on the floor. I skip over to Alexis who is peeking over one of the shelves: "How's Echidna?" Alexis shrugs: "Asleep." I'm pretty much astounded: "You haven't killed her? She could wake up!"

Alexis walks over to Echidna's fallen body, raises her sword and chops her head off. Echidna turns into fine dust the moment the sword touches her body.

I grimace: "Now where will we find medic stuff?" Alexis has a new cut on her leg, it's bleeding. "I don't know, I mean this is the only pharmacy around here, and we've basically destroyed it," she scratches her head, "I'm surprised no one else noticed."

"Let's retreat." I am still shocked how many monsters are after us, I feel really small and insignificant. We walk down the street and go back into the forest, back into darkness. The world now seems larger than it was before. It seemed like a year since I left Grandpa Tristan's skyscraper.

I feel more aware of what type of person I am than I have ever felt before.

We sit in the tent and pull out our sushi sets. We eat in silence. Alexis seems to be on the brink of happiness, I know I should be too, but there is a sinking feeling in my stomach that drowns all the satisfaction.

After lunch, Alexis pulls out a boring book about cars. I take out a small mirror and check my reflection. I find myself dirtier than I thought I was - covered in sweat, grime and blood. "I'm going to take a bath, there should be a river nearby," I declare.

"I'll go too!" Alexis agrees with me. I walk over to my pack and hoping Sarah (my private helper) didn't unpack the thing I was looking for since my last camping trip with my classmates.

Thankfully, I find a small bag with my toothbrush, toothpaste, hairbrush, washing equipment and a towel. I take out the shampoo, conditioner, towel, two swimsuits (in case one gets dirty) and a set of new clothes (I accidently still have the stinky clothes from the last camping trip, so I also bring my dirty clothes to wash in the river - I learnt it in an awesome book called 'How to Survive', unlike Alexis' book about old Volkswagens).

Alexis looks at me admiringly. I guess it's good to be organized. I walk out of the tent and Alexis follows me.

We walk to a small creek and set our things down (actually Alexis didn't bring anything). I go to the nearest bush and put on my silver tankini. I walk out again and see Alexis in the same spot, looking quite stunned. I roll my eyes and hand her my other swimsuit - a pink bikini.

Alexis looks revolted but puts it on anyway. "What's wrong with pink?" I ask. She throws me her 'you are totally stupid' look and dives into the pool gracefully. I stand there awed.

Not to be let down, I fly up and do a slow motion forward roll three times before I fall in the water with a belly flop. "Ouch," Alexis gives me a smirk.

I shake it off gracefully, and swim to the nearest rock and sit down. I take out my stuff and start to wash. Alexis goes into the water and does a graceful butterfly. I stare at her stunned.

For some reason I have never felt comfortable in water, even though my body shape is perfect for swimming. Also, I had only perfected freestyle last year and whenever I do butterfly, I simply sink to the bottom of the pool. I gawk stupidly at her. She looks expectantly at me, I finish shampooing my hair and dive in clumsily. I start doing a rather clumsy freestyle.

She looks at me unmoved: "Seriously?" I feel my face burn. Rather embarrassed, I take out my dirty clothes to wash. Alexis starts doing different strokes gracefully and perfectly. On land, she really lacks the grace she has in the water. I feel quite jealous.

Alexis has a sudden thought: "Do you feel really powerful in water? I do." I turn pale, "Water and I are not a good mix," I swallow, "The first time I went in a swimming pool I vomited. I always feel weak in water, the only place I feel better is when I fly - finding the fact I found it out a hour ago, I just love the feeling." She frowns: "Thats strange, the time I was in the air - which was when I tried to jump down from the really high diving board, I got fever as soon as I got home." I sigh: "Oh well, I'll go pick some leaves that we can use as bandages for our cuts." I stand up to walk away. "Wait, I'll just have one more swim." Alexis pleads. I nod and sit down. Alexis does her last lap in butterfly.

Alexis pushes herself up. A look of fascination and shock creeps on her face. She scrambles to her feet and looks at her leg.

Her wounds are gone.


	5. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Alexis looks up to me. I try to hide my confusion. But, by the look on Alexis' face, I could tell she wasn't convinced. "I've got only one theory why this happened, the water healed my wounds." Alexis says this confidently, but I can still hear a hint of how confused she is.

I try best to give her a 'I don't believe you look'. She walks over to the creek and continues as if she didn't see my look: "I've got something I want to try out, come over here." I go over to her reluctantly and kneel down beside her. She dips her fingers into the water and runs her finger along the wound across my arm. I wince. Water has always made me feel old and weak.

Miracles happen.

Whatever point on the wound she touched the wound would heal. I look at her surprised. She pauses as sees this. She dips her right hand into the water, then touches the burns on my face (Chimmy's fault). The red marks on my face disappear.

We lock eyes with each other, speechless. I was the first to break the silence: "Well, I guess we don't need the leaves anymore."

She smiles weakly. Alexis stands up first. I follow. We walk back to the tent. "Do you have any games we can play? I need to relax."

For the first time Alexis shows the bit of fun within all her seriousness. I nod and rummage in my pack for the game I forgot to unpack last camping trip. After a minute of looking for it, I pull out a small, battered pack of UNO.

I start shuffling the cards, I try to do a complicated shuffle move, but the cards fly all over the tent. Alexis gently collects the cards and start doing moves I've never seen. I stare at her. She hands out the cards. I look at my cards they're reasonably good, Alexis gives me a smirk.

We kept playing, even though Alexis won the first three rounds. I won the fourth because of luck. We played into afternoon (Alexis winning all the other rounds). We stop after about three hours (only because I'm kinda hungry). "Do you want some food? I'm hungry." I ask her. Alexis agrees: "Yeah, okay." I pull out two curry rice sets and hand one over to Alexis. She takes it gratefully and begins stuffing it in her mouth. I open my packet and start eating it slowly.

I do really miss the handmade pasta that Grandpa made himself, I sigh.

Alexis seems to remember something and rummages in her backpack. She pulls out a crumpled box of cupcakes - blue cupcakes in a blue box. She hands me one.

"Thanks." I thank her. She smiles at me: "No probs, it's a grandma Sally special, she kinda made me bring it." I frown teasingly: "What happened to all the proper grammar."

Alexis rolls her eyes. I bite into the creamy frosting of the cupcake, a sweet yet light blueberry taste overwhelms my mouth: "Yum, this is so good." Alexis' smile widens: "Tell that to grandma Sally, she'll love you." I smile.

I guess there is a fun part of Alexis. For some reason I can now tell that we're going to be really good friends, even though at first she acted kind of stuck - up. "I'm going to bed." I announce. I unroll my sleeping bag and yawn. I hear Alexis ask something, but I don't bother, roll over and go to sleep.

I have another strange dream. I was in a huge glass bubble. I see a guy probably in his early thirties with salt and pepper hair in a jogging suit. He seems to be jogging towards me, while talking on his phone and his phone replying back: "I have Athena on line three and you have about 2,895 emails including the discount offer for a pet drakon." says a muffled voice. "Oh shut up," Says the jogger, "Tell Athena I'm on an important mission for Zeus."

I look closely at him, he seems to be emitting a powerful aura like actual glowing, and he had miniature live snakes as earphones. "You have snakes in your ears." I say stupidly.

"Hey, we're real. We exist. I have a name - George and she's Martha."

"Don't be rude, remember the time her mother got the nice phone attachments for us?"

"I would have prefered rats."

The left and right earphones, apparently named George and Martha, are arguing profusely in my mind. The jogger seems annoyed by this, seeing the fact he scowls, takes off his earphones and jams them in his back pocket.

He turns back to me, smiling a sly smile: "Hello Kallisto Grace." My first instinct was that this guy was a crazy monster that wanted to kill me, I reach for my necklace, but it isn't there.

The guy sighs, waggles his finger at me and says: "That won't do, I'm on a diplomatic mission for Lord Zeus and Lady Aphrodite, I'm Hermes, the Greek god of messengers, thieves and shepherds etc.. And the messenger of the gods." "Oh, there he is showing off again." The muffled voice of the left snake starts to talk again. I pay no attention to the snake: "Umm... Is that the fashion brand?"

Thankfully, Hermes doesn't look that angry, but only wearing a slightly mild expression on his face: "Oh that son of mine, trying to honor me by calling his shop by my name."

"Nah, but never mind, I suppose you don't know, but you are a part god." I stare at him confused: "Can you tell me what you're talking about? Wait, Thierry Hermes is your son?"

He looks at me: "Oh, don't think about using charmspeak on me young lady. And don't strike me with lightning either." He continues calmly: "Let me explain, you know all the Greek gods and stuff?"

I nod, remembering my mother's disastrous attempts to teach me, I remember something about a wine dude and a guy with a stick and two snakes. "Well, they are real. I'm one of the twelve olympians - the gods of your fabric of civilization, we created everything of yours, if we didn't our children did. Our children are demigods, very much like your parents. Your parents are staying away, because one, to keep you safe. The smell of your parents will alert monsters and make them attack them. Your smell or aura is twice as powerful as theirs, that's how monsters find you, same as your friend over there." I look over to my left, there Alexis is standing there with a replica of the guy standing right in front of me. I make a mental note to buy some perfume from Dior the next time I had a chance. I resist the urge to run over to Alexis, but simply turn to Hermes and ask: "And the other reason is?"

"Oh, right, the second reason they stay away from you is because a dark force even more powerful than tartarus is stirring. Your parents, Piper Mclean, daughter of Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty, and Jason Grace, son of Zeus, king of the gods and the god of the sky, along with your friend Alexis' parents are trying to keep all the monsters at bay. A normal demigod will only have one power, but since both your parents are demigods, you have twice the power of normal demigod. Your parents gave you powers such as charmspeak, the ability to charm others to do your bidding, the talent for reading ties slash expressions and using beauty as a shield from your mother and the ability to control lightning and storm clouds, to fly and to gain strength from the air from your father. You will also have other powers related to your godly grandparents that your parents don't have, those that are only available to the god or goddess herself, even the Olympians are confused about how much power a quartergod can have. But at the same time your parent's weaknesses are also twice as strong."

I still am confused. He continues: "You must go to Camp Half - Blood, they need as many warriors as we can. You and your friend are prophesied to save the world. You must go." His voice fades so does his image. "Wait," I call out, " I've got so many questions, don't go!" As he fades, so does my dream.

I stretch my arms, and sit up.

Strangely, Alexis jerks up at the exact same time as me. Alexis scrambles up to her feet and starts pacing around the tent mumbling. I give a little throat clearing: "Did you have any strange dreams last night?" I try to use some charmspeak, in case Alexis doesn't want to tell me. Her eyes a bit dazed and she answers in a monotone: "I did, I was in this glass globe with Hermes, the greek god. He was telling me about demigods. You were in my dream too, in a globe beside me. He said we are demigods!"

I stare at her, shocked: "I had the exact same dream!" I stand up and continue dryly: "So the world is more dangerous than it seems, we're both half god, half human."

She nods slightly frozen. "We should go to Manhattan straight away, Camp Half Blood is in danger." I propose this carefully. She nods again, pursing her lips.

I pick up my messenger bag and start stuffing my clothes neatly into it, then daintily picking the food up and fitting it slowly into the half full bag. Alexis grabs all her stuff and literally stuffs it messily into her backpack. Fast, but not very efficient.

We jump out of the tent once we finish packing, then roll the tent up. I carefully strap it on top of my pack. "Done," I say quite satisfied.

Alexis is thinking ahead as usual: "Should we take the bus?" I shake my head: "We need to take a cab, it's a lot quicker." Alexis looks slightly worried: "Erm... money?" I try to look as reassuring as possible and pull out my orange wallet from Hermes (what a coincident!) : "I've got it all covered." I whip out my version of the latest Iphone and start to dial for a cab.

"It'll be here in a few minutes." I answer. A battered looking cab pulls around the corner, I signal it seeing the number is 8856. The taxi stops and the cabbie's head pops out of the window: "Ms. Grace innit?" I nod. He grunts and sits back. I swing the door and clamber in, Alexis follows. "Half - Blood Hill, Long Island, New York please." I ask the driver, as the address pops into my head. The cabbie looks incredulous: "That's a three hour drive, missy." I slap a lot of twenty dollar notes next to him. The driver shrugs and speeds away.

Alexis looks bored after five minutes and starts peeking out of the window. I sneak out my phone and dial my grandfather's number. "Hello, Mellie speaking."

The soothing wind - like voice of my grandfather's personal assistant fills my ears. "Hi Mellie," I remember when my grandfather was busy, Mellie would read my picture books for me and tag around me as my constant companion, "Can I speak to my grandpa?" Mellie says nothing but I hear a buzzing, then my grandpa's suddenly hoarse voice on the phone: "Hello, is it you Kallisto?" Hearing my grandpa's voice like this brings tears to my eyes: "Yes, it's me grandpa."

"Thank goodness, are you alright? Do you have enough? Do you feel sick?"

"No, I'm fine, but sometimes I wonder why I ever left home."

"It's for the goodness of the world, remember the story of the skeleton dog I told you?"

"Mm - hm. Poor dog."

"Well, you and another girl are destined to save the world, I'm worried if you will survive or end up as sacrifices like that poor dog."

"I met the other girl, she's quite nice."

Our conversation continues, varying in different subjects including the fact, grandfather would be spending the summer in Hollywood, meeting some of his friends. Suddenly, Alexis shakes my arm: "Kallisto, hang up now, hang up!" I stare. "Hang up now!" She stares in my eyes fiercely.

I sigh and turn to my phone: "Sorry Gramps, I'll call you back later, love you." I turn to Alexis, exasperated and annoyed: "What?" "Get out now!" She shoots her words at me.

She opens the taxi door. The cabbie grunts: "Are you sure? There's only one kilo north t' go." Alexis shakes her head vigorously. I answer as sweetly as I can: "We're fine. Thank you."

We scramble out of the cab. I straighten myself: "Why?" Alexis doesn't get to answer.

A flock of birds rises from the forest behind us. A half man, half bull creature strides out of the forest carrying to axes, wearing full battle armour and a seriously gross wet bull's nose that would require a lot of foundation to look good. Alexis stares: "That's why."

"What are you thinking? Run!" I half scream this.

I run towards a hill with a lone pine tree that had a dragon coiled around it; I remember it from my dream. Alexis is hot at my heels.

The bull is faster than I thought, it's long strides are carrying it really far. He's getting closer with every step.

A whir of blonde and brown spins down the hill, revealing two women - one curly blonde with grey eyes and one brunette with stony black eyes. The blonde is whirling her knife around her head, chopping at the monster's feet. The brunette is calling out random commands: "Bump into the tree." The bull charges towards the tree and slumps into it unconscious.

The blonde raises her knife and slashes it down onto the monster's neck. The monster disintegrates.

The women come up to us, high - fiving each other. The brunette doesn't look at us, but, starts talking: "Oh the Minotaur? Hate that ugly guy."

The blonde changes the subject: "Do you think Percy and Jason are back from the peace trip with the Romans yet?" I can't resist myself.

I step between them asking the brunette: "Um... Are you talking about Jason Grace? Are you Piper Mclean? Mom?" Seemingly encouraged by me, Alexis steps up and turns to the blonde: "Are you Annabeth Chase? Mom?"

They seem to finally notice us (even though it's like twelve in the noon). The women freeze and face us. "Kallisto?" "Alexis?" The two women say this at the same time. "Yeah, it's us." I reply. Alexis nods. They're about to hug us when they suddenly stop and my mother says: "We'll explain later." "Let's go to Camp first." Alexis' mom adds.

We walk up the hill (my mom calls it Half Blood Hill), and as we pass the dragon and tree, I feel the feeling I feel in my dream - this is my home. We walk past a large wooden sign with 'Camp Half Blood' inscribed deeply. We see a few kids playing basketball, their shots were awesome, all three pointers went in.

Then we passed the strange assortment of buildings I saw in my dream, I find particular interest in one made completely out of silver, another that looks like a fashion fantasy and the first one the has thunder crackling around it.

We sit on a fancy table on the front porch of a blue house. Alexis' mom leans forward: "Has anybody explained the situation to you yet?" I nod as Alexis says: "Hermes did."

My mom speaks up: "But I'm sure he didn't tell you about the dark force rising, our sources tell us that the Lord of the Sky, Ouranos is rising. Ouranos is one of the first, father of the titans. You're dads are on a peace trip with the Romans - they have a small grudge, well, because we half destroyed their camp twice." Alexis scrunches up her eyebrows: "Isn't Ouranos dead?".

Alexis' mom flashes a small smile: "Doesn't look like it."

Mom continues: "We need as many warriors as we can, and since you the Oracle of Delphi, our fortune teller, prosephied that you two are destined to save the world, Camp Half Blood will be your new home."

I look around the sweet strawberry smelling meadows and happy campers to my mother's glowing smile and happy violet eyes. I decide on the spot. This will be my new home. My new life. Alexis' mom speaks up again, gesturing towards the strange assortment of buildings: "Chiron, the camp manager, will show you around to your cabins. They are sorted according to who our godly parents are."

I look at the cabins, guessing the fashionable one I like is Aphrodite and the ozone, thunder one is Zeus.

I look over at Alexis and our mothers. A ray of sunlight is shining on their faces, casting a dark shadow over the rest of their body. I look over to the Pegasus stables, where kids are flying in the air. That looks really fun. Maybe swordfighting will be fun too. I see a bright side to my new life, but I see a dark side too. I really don't want to be butchered up into a sacrifice.

Alexis' mom peeps up: "Chiron is over by the volleyball pits, he's settling a skirmish between the satyrs and the Apollo kids, you go past the cabins and next to the forest, there'll probably be a burnt net and a couple of burnt plants," She shook her head, "Apollo really shouldn't have told his kids to use Grover's lemon trees as targets for their burning arrows. Nobody messes with the Lord of the Wild." She threw her head back and laughed.

I feel clueless: "Um.. Satyrs?"

My Mom looks at me and sighs: "Oh dear, I forgot how much you don't know about greek myths, satyrs are protectors of the wild, half goat, half human." She turns to Alexis' mom, "Kallisto will have to take Greek with you Annabeth, should Alexis...?"

Alexis' mom puts her hands on Alexis' shoulders. "My little girl is all set, she'll just have to revise a bit, that's all."

Alexis' face looks like a huge apple.

My mom turns back to me: "Call all your teachers the correct names okay? So Annabeth will be Mrs. Chase, your crafts teacher will be Ms. Zi or Ms. Kassy and..."

Mrs. Chase smiles hugely. "Piper, none of this rubbish," She looks at me kindly with her large, intelligent grey eyes, "You call me Annabeth, alright?" Diverting her gaze towards Alexis, she says in a much sterner tone: "Alexis, call your teachers what they want you to call them, don't misbehave or I'll be hearing from your teachers."

Impossibly, Alexis' face turns even redder.

I try to loosen her a bit from her mom's steely eyes. "Come on Alexis, let's go meet Chiron." She nods and we walk away.

When we get to the volleyball pit (or what's left of it), whoooaaa!

Okay, get this. In the pit next to a pile of leaves, branches, a red arrow and something that looked distinctly like a lemon stood a middle aged guy, with a crinkly brown beard and warm brown eyes. That sounds normal but, where this guys legs were where a body of a white stallion.

I wondered if there was a guy with a horse head walking around somewhere.

Alexis kneeled down to him, putting her head on her knee.

Next to him stood a couple of (weird) guys with horns and goat legs standing upright and a few normal kids, most with blonde hair, which gave me a really bad feline flashback.

He didn't seem to notice us, he was standing there talking to a boy with blonde hair: "Be reasonable Jake, did you really mean to hurt Grover's trees? If you did Grover will probably turn you into an ash tree." Jake looks kind of ashamed, but when he looks in our direction, he creases his eyebrows. Alexis squeaks about not believing the actual Chiron, the one that taught so many heroes was actually in front of her. I think she considered getting his autograph.

The horse guy sees us then breaks into a grateful smile: "Finally, you're here, the ones in the prophecy. I am Chiron, by the way." He starts to praise the gods, but the entire time he has his eyes fixed on us. I properly see his eyes. Even though he looks middle aged, the age of his eyes is unlimited. They're a hazelnut brown, strewn with black. There's a kind of wisdom and power that shows in his eyes that you can't describe. It lights them up letting you know that this man is not easy to deal with.

Alexis stands up from the ground, undisturbed by Chiron's steady gaze. "Master Chiron, our mothers sent us to be sorted into our cabins."

Chiron chuckles - a deep, melodious sound. "No need to call me Master Chiron, just Chiron," He looks at two boys beside him, "Jake is the head counsellor of the Apollo cabin, he'll show Alexis around."

Jake gives her a small salute, which makes Alexis' eyes lighten up with humor. They take off, Jake pointing at various buildings, letting her know what they are.

"Kallisto, you will be shown around by Calix." Chiron gestures forward a boy that looks my age and really good looking. He gives me a wink and a dazzling smile. I try my best to give an answering one as good as his. A few girls by a clear, blue lake nudge each other and giggle.

Calix is, well, really gorgeous.

To me Calix's looks outshine Chimmy's and the Nemean Lion's by a mile. He has shoulder length, pure black hair, parted in the middle of his head. His eyebrows are perfectly curved just at the right angle, the distance between his misty emerald green eyes that really shine like the stars and face shape is perfect too. Every part of him seems chiseled and muscled. His skin looks soft and pale. Beneath his straight nose is a full - lipped mouth revealing straight, pearly teeth bared in a smile. He's wearing a black jeans and a black leather jacket. Strangely, he's wearing a Harry Potter Slytherin t - shirt (I like Harry Potter too!).

Chiron clears his throat. "Calix is also quartergod like you, though we're not one hundred percent sure about his mother's parentage, his father just appeared with him one day here." Chiron shook his head as if wanting to get rid of the memory: "Quartergods are kids who two of their grandparents are greek gods." The thought was kind of weird. My grandad marrying the goddess of love.

"Come on, let's go, I'll show you your cabins, then you get to pick if you want to stay in the Aphrodite or the Zeus cabin." Calix says this in a casual, reassuring voice, hinting a bit of english accent.

"Um... okay?" My usually cool voice seems really messed up.

He smiles and makes a mock gesture towards cabins. I feel my cheeks burn slightly. Lucky my blush will never be as strong as Alexis' sunny red.

I trot up to him, keeping up to pace with his long legs. He points stuff out as we wind around different buildings.

"That's where we eat, but, we have a really nice barbeque on Fridays, after Capture the Flag, and then there's the place we play basketball. Only Apollo kids play there, you should see the last time Apollo poned the Ares kids, the poetry..." He grins slightly, "We'll go to the Aphrodite Cabin first."

He points towards an adorable pink house that looks like a large fairytale castle. He walks up to there and gives me a sarcastic smile: "Beware, the Aphrodite can be vicious." He knocks elegantly on the door.


End file.
